by Joe Morris. Europe is the birthplace of the Tour de France, the rear derailer, the Dutch utility bike, and the trans-continental bike route. Nevertheless, it can be intimidating to plan your own bike tour there. How do you choose a route? Where do you stay? How much planning do you really need to do?

Adventure Cyclist began publishing practical advice for buying a touring bike in 1996. The articles have covered all kinds of bikes that can be used for bicycle travel — true touring bikes, mountain bikes, tandems, recumbents, cross bikes, etc. They have also included lists of manufacturers that make these bikes and their contact information. Despite the amount of time that has passed since many of these articles were published, we think they still contain a lot of useful information and advice. We hope you find them useful.